slightly more organised OotP babble
Jun. 24th, 2003 12:12 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
pauraque_bkFirst off, this was a surprisingly well-written book. It moved along much faster than any of the others (maybe a bit too fast by the end, but it's still a huge improvement from the endless exposition that bogged down GoF). JKR has always been a better storyteller than a poet, but her poetry has vastly improved. She's using all the senses for description now, which makes her prose far more absorbing.
Some things:
-Petunia came off looking pretty good... I've always secretly sympathised with her -- she sure puts up with a lot. I've had a Petunia-and-Snape-related plot bunny for a few weeks now, and I think I may actually finish it off this time.
-I also sympathised much more with Harry than I ever have before. I'm liking him much more as he grows up, wises up, and starts seeing the world in more shades of grey.
-JKR did finally succeed at making me hate a character when I was supposed to. Umbridge. LOATHSOME. Enough said. I was skeptical, however, of Harry's waffling between whom he hated more, Umbridge or Snape. I mean, come on -- Snape makes his nasty little comments, but that's hardly comparable to repeated physical abuse by someone who doesn't even have the excuse of ultimately being on the side of good. I just didn't buy it. It would have been more believable and dramatically effective if, at the point where Umbridge is questioning Snape, Harry found himself uncomfortably rooting for Snape to really cut her down. I would have liked that.
-That one point aside, I thought the interplay between Harry and Snape was great. Wonderfully touchy and prickly. H/S isn't my thing, but man -- all that kneeling on the dungeon floor, all that "I told you to call me sir", all that uncomfortable forced intimacy -- I have to admit it was kinda sexy. (In sort of the same way that it was sexy when Scully had Jeffrey on the examination table in "William", for those of you to whom that means something.)
-Cho. Whatever.
-Has anyone else noticed that Flitwick just completely rocks? He reminds me of a very cool teacher I once had, who had a way of thumbing his nose at too-stringent rules, and liked to hold classes outside when it was a nice day. Flitwick certainly seems to be a good teacher, too -- it's rare that we hear about someone having a hard time in Charms.
-Funny, we had that discussion a little while back about how Peter may not have been an accepted member of James's group, Sirius seemed to have a lot of contempt for him, etc. Looks as though we were right. Poor Peter.
-Poor Remus, too... In my later high school years, I was basically in Remus's position. Smart, responsible, pretty well-liked, sensitive, but unable to control the outrageous behavior of the kids around me. I felt for him.
-And oh boy did I ever feel for Snape. In my earlier school career (before I'd switched schools), I was... well, let's just say it was pretty bad. That chapter was wrenching for me to read. Yet vindicating at the same time, to have all my worst suspicions about Sirius -- and everything Snape ever said about James -- confirmed.
-And yet, after all that, Sirius's death really hurt, which surprised me. It was all about Harry, really -- just as he starts to understand his godfather as a real person, and starts to feel a genuine connection to the truth about his past (horrible as it may be), that connection is snatched away. Ouch.
-There seems to be a little continuity flaw in that James and Lily couldn't have been Head Boy and Head Girl if James wasn't a prefect. But that doesn't bother me much, as I'd never been fond of the idea of James as Head Boy anyhow.
-Tonks: I didn't like her. I found her annoying, I didn't see a dramatic point to the character, and I hate to think of the horrible crimes that will be perpetrated with her in fic (thought JKR can hardly be held accountable for that).
-Draco sure got the short end of the characterisation stick this time around. I don't want him to be Redeemed or anything, but some more depth would be nice. You've got to hand it to Dumbledore, though -- he chose Slytherin prefects who were popular with their own House, rather than picking whoever he liked. I'm not quite sure what to make of that yet.
-Here's what I still wonder: When Sirius was arrested, did Snape know he was innocent? Sure, Snape couldn't have proven Sirius wasn't a Death Eater (can't prove a negative, after all), but he probably suspected he wasn't, especially if he knew Peter was. (That's a big "if".) I guess the most likely scenario is that Snape believed Sirius had killed Peter, but with a different motivation than everyone else thought, and kept this information to himself.
That seems like a lot of complaints, but really, I loved the book. I think it's too soon to name it a new favorite, but it's certainly up there alongside PoA. My expectations were far exceeded. It's great to know that JKR is only getting better with practice.
I'm sure I'll have more later. It's still sinking in that all this is canon now.
Some things:
-Petunia came off looking pretty good... I've always secretly sympathised with her -- she sure puts up with a lot. I've had a Petunia-and-Snape-related plot bunny for a few weeks now, and I think I may actually finish it off this time.
-I also sympathised much more with Harry than I ever have before. I'm liking him much more as he grows up, wises up, and starts seeing the world in more shades of grey.
-JKR did finally succeed at making me hate a character when I was supposed to. Umbridge. LOATHSOME. Enough said. I was skeptical, however, of Harry's waffling between whom he hated more, Umbridge or Snape. I mean, come on -- Snape makes his nasty little comments, but that's hardly comparable to repeated physical abuse by someone who doesn't even have the excuse of ultimately being on the side of good. I just didn't buy it. It would have been more believable and dramatically effective if, at the point where Umbridge is questioning Snape, Harry found himself uncomfortably rooting for Snape to really cut her down. I would have liked that.
-That one point aside, I thought the interplay between Harry and Snape was great. Wonderfully touchy and prickly. H/S isn't my thing, but man -- all that kneeling on the dungeon floor, all that "I told you to call me sir", all that uncomfortable forced intimacy -- I have to admit it was kinda sexy. (In sort of the same way that it was sexy when Scully had Jeffrey on the examination table in "William", for those of you to whom that means something.)
-Cho. Whatever.
-Has anyone else noticed that Flitwick just completely rocks? He reminds me of a very cool teacher I once had, who had a way of thumbing his nose at too-stringent rules, and liked to hold classes outside when it was a nice day. Flitwick certainly seems to be a good teacher, too -- it's rare that we hear about someone having a hard time in Charms.
-Funny, we had that discussion a little while back about how Peter may not have been an accepted member of James's group, Sirius seemed to have a lot of contempt for him, etc. Looks as though we were right. Poor Peter.
-Poor Remus, too... In my later high school years, I was basically in Remus's position. Smart, responsible, pretty well-liked, sensitive, but unable to control the outrageous behavior of the kids around me. I felt for him.
-And oh boy did I ever feel for Snape. In my earlier school career (before I'd switched schools), I was... well, let's just say it was pretty bad. That chapter was wrenching for me to read. Yet vindicating at the same time, to have all my worst suspicions about Sirius -- and everything Snape ever said about James -- confirmed.
-And yet, after all that, Sirius's death really hurt, which surprised me. It was all about Harry, really -- just as he starts to understand his godfather as a real person, and starts to feel a genuine connection to the truth about his past (horrible as it may be), that connection is snatched away. Ouch.
-There seems to be a little continuity flaw in that James and Lily couldn't have been Head Boy and Head Girl if James wasn't a prefect. But that doesn't bother me much, as I'd never been fond of the idea of James as Head Boy anyhow.
-Tonks: I didn't like her. I found her annoying, I didn't see a dramatic point to the character, and I hate to think of the horrible crimes that will be perpetrated with her in fic (thought JKR can hardly be held accountable for that).
-Draco sure got the short end of the characterisation stick this time around. I don't want him to be Redeemed or anything, but some more depth would be nice. You've got to hand it to Dumbledore, though -- he chose Slytherin prefects who were popular with their own House, rather than picking whoever he liked. I'm not quite sure what to make of that yet.
-Here's what I still wonder: When Sirius was arrested, did Snape know he was innocent? Sure, Snape couldn't have proven Sirius wasn't a Death Eater (can't prove a negative, after all), but he probably suspected he wasn't, especially if he knew Peter was. (That's a big "if".) I guess the most likely scenario is that Snape believed Sirius had killed Peter, but with a different motivation than everyone else thought, and kept this information to himself.
That seems like a lot of complaints, but really, I loved the book. I think it's too soon to name it a new favorite, but it's certainly up there alongside PoA. My expectations were far exceeded. It's great to know that JKR is only getting better with practice.
I'm sure I'll have more later. It's still sinking in that all this is canon now.
